Against All Odds
by Frostmourne
Summary: She’s determined to settle scores and he’s unconsciously seeking a way out of the life he had known since childhood. When fate brings them both together the result is something quite far from what everyone expected. DH Updated check my bio pls
1. A Ganeshan Stand

**Author's Note: **I have revised this one since when I re-read it, I found it mortifyingly lacking in descriptions. Most of the dialogues lacked the descriptions that would've made the emotions with each words uttered more pronounced. I also altered some of the scenes to make them more emphatic, more able to leave a mark. I hope you found time to go over this chapter again. I still know this is a bit boring for a start but please give this one a chance like you did with my other stories especially the IA series. I'll do my best to bring out the best of this story. **Thanks for the time.**

**Dedication: **Anthius, Catelina, Diesty-chan, dreamingofflyingaway, Feathers of Snow: Honeypot, ultemecia, Izzy, MysticalDreamer32, bebopin'-dreamer, windsoffortune

**Note:**

"Against All Odds" – dialogue

'Against All Odds' – thoughts

_Against All Odds - _flashback

**Summary: **She's determined to settle scores and he's unconsciously seeking a way out of the life he had known since childhood. When fate brings them both together the result is something quiet far from what everyone expected.

**Standard Disclaimer Apply  
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**Against All Odds**

**By Frostmourne  
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**---o---**

**Part I: GANESHAN STAND**

**---o---  
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**---o-o-o---**

A family is one's anchor…

Whether they are of your blood or not… they are part of yourself…

That's why we continue to strive even when crushed…

It is all…

**---"For the sake of the family"---**

**---o-o-o---  
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"Commander!"

She spun around and was just in time to deflect a blow that would have ended her life. Taking advantage of her agility and her enemy's temporary shock at her deflection, she plunged her sword into his chest and without mercy, plunged it deeper until most of the blade pierced through his body.

Eyes sparkling with hatred, she withdrew her sword making the man kneel in pain. She raised her sword sideways and in a blink of an eye, it ended. The man's life was severed together with his head. The body fell, and together with it, the rest of the army fell to their hands. Their captain was dead, his life taken by the commander of the defending army.

"Are you alright, Commander?"

She looked at her just arrived soldier. He was bloodied just like she was. She looked around and noticed that the early morning fog was just about disappearing. Dead bodies were everywhere, most of them from the attacking party, some from her army. She looked back at the soldier.

"Burn the corpses."

"Yes, commander."

As he jogged away, she stared at her sword. It dripped with the blood of the men she had just killed that early morning.

"Are you alright?"

She looked up from her sword and stared at the eyes of her lady.

"Are you alright?"

Smiling, she turned to look back at her sword, now clean. "A dream."

The lady frowned. "You've been having too much of that lately. I think you're tired. Stop pushing yourself."

She shook her head. "No. I have to be at my best all the time. What are you doing here? You shouldn't be in the training grounds. Lord–"

"Father told me you're working too hard. If you do not rest, I would take that as an offense."

With slight frustration, she tried to sway the lady's mind. "Lady Yukari, I have to continue training. It doesn't mean that if there is no war I can relax."

"But–"

"Commander," a male's voice interrupted.

They both looked at the bowed soldier.

"What is it?" She asked calmly.

"The Lord Ganesha asks for you to meet him in the stables."

"I see. Send word that I would be there after I send Lady Yukari back."

"As you say, Commander." With that, the soldier left.

She turned to the lady and was about to say something when the lady spoke.

"Fine. I'll leave. But the next time, I am not taking 'no' for an answer. Remember that."

She just smiled as she watched the Lady Yukari leave.

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

"My Lord," she acknowledge with a slightly bowed head.

Lord Balgus Ganesha, one of the best swordsmen in all of Gaea and her lord, slowly turned around from watching a stallion eat. "Has my daughter been giving you trouble?"

She smiled slightly as she looked up at the big bulk of her lord. "Just the usual pestering."

He laughed. "I see. She could be such a trouble. Perhaps I should have her married soon. But I do see her point. You've been working so hard. Come and join me for a ride."

"As you wish," she said with another slight bow.

Minutes later, in the field surrounding the mansion, two great stallions carried them with great speed. They rode through the fields, wind breezing by them. Everything was peaceful. Everything was beautiful. It was only after some time that they slowed down until the stallions were moving at a lazy pace.

"You excelled much through the years," commented Lord Ganesha as they continued their slow pace. "You're the best I have in my army."

She smiled slightly. "And I have you to thank, my Lord."

For minutes, silence passed. But it was not a silence deemed awkward rather, a silence full of companionable air.

Lord Ganesha looked upon her kindly. "Do you know that Yukari thinks that you should stop dressing up?"

She laughed. "Yes. And I do know her reason. That's so she might make me her doll."

He chuckled at her comment then. "You're right. But you do understand that she is looking for a sister, someone she could talk to about love and such things."

"I have no time for that. Those things are not for me." She held onto the reins tightly, as if reliving a past she wished not to experience again. "I know what the real world is and talking to her and agreeing with her outlook would be hypocrisy for me. We both see the world differently and it so happens that we see the opposites. She looks at the world through a colored glass window. I see it as it is, dull and dark. It's a charcoal painting of the oceans at storm, of a mausoleum at night, of a battlefield under a full moon when carrion birds feast on the dead bodies littering the land."

A lapse of silence fell before them and the slow pace of one of the horses stopped altogether. It was only when she was a few meters ahead that she stopped her horse, not looking back at her superior and merely waiting for him to comment on her.

"That is my fault," said he with a remorseful tone. "I have done not anything at all to stop you from looking at it at that standpoint."

She was quick to disagree, her loyalty standing firmly. "You're not to blame. We all have reasons for the things we do. I am lucky to be here and be what I am now. You have given me another chance at life and I had taken it and lived it this way. 'T was my choice."

He shook his head, as if it was his own way of berating her. "You are young. You do not see everything yet but sooner or later, you would understand that not everything is as ghastly as those you mentioned." He released one hand from its hold on the rein and patted the horse appreciatively. "Do you find this life ghastly?"

At this, she could not help but look back with vehemence blazing in her green eyes. "No. But I find the rest of the world as such."

"Child, you are but fifteen and yet," he paused and met her eyes with his own. "You close yourself to the possibilities that the world may have other colors beside black and white."

"My lord," she murmured, looking away for a moment up at the clear blue sky as if to gather strength for what she would say. "Perhaps I am wrong to perceive everything to either be solely black and white. But as it is well-known, only time has the power to change what people see." She returned her gaze back at him. "And yet I do doubt it would change mine."

He gave a nod of understanding, and yet, he questioned her so. "Why do you say that?"

She looked away once more, this time, to look at her hands as they gripped even harder on the reins. "I have so many dreams… bad ones. And even when I'm awake, I have them. I think they're versions of what my mind has of wars. I am marred and time might change those scars into nothing." Looking at him with desperation so great in her eyes, she wanted nothing more than flee at that moment. "But how can I see more than black and white when even as time goes by, I'm having so many bad images surging into me from my past and from out of nowhere?"

"Child," said Lord Balgus Ganesha, urging his horse to close the gap between him and the young girl. "Talking keeps the pain become more tolerable. That's why I coax you to talk at times. But perhaps the best thing to do is to listen to a certain need… You need to let go."

If possible, the desperation in her eyes increased. "I can't. Because if I do," her voice faltered for a moment, revealing how truly young she was to have faced the horrors of war can bring. "Then I'm letting all my loved ones disappear. My memories are all that I have left."

He smiled sadly. "I understand." Silence settled for a while. "I am heading back. You may linger longer if you so wish." He turned away but still spoke. "Child, I'm asking you to take it easy. You're being too hard on yourself."

A faint smile graced her lips as she watched him go, her heart pounding steadily with the fierce loyalty she had. As he disappeared from her sight, she wasn't able to stop herself from uttering, "I will protect this family, I promise."

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

"And with their hearts they promised to love each other even if they are against all odds."

She resisted the strong inclination to roll her eyes.

"Isn't it sweet?" Lady Yukari uttered as she held the book to her chest and hugged it tight.

The laughter of Lord Ganesha resonated in the parlor they were in. "My daughter, take into consideration that not everyone here is a romantic as you are."

At that, Lady Yukari turned to the other occupant of the room, who was sitting quietly near the massive fireplace, obviously looking ready to cover her ears and block out any romantic chatter. "Tomi, it is romantic, isn't it?"

The said person looked at her with impassive green eyes before looking back at the fire. "It's too idealistic. You should know that life is not a fairy tale."

With passion in her voice, Lady Yukari answered back with defiance. "Someday, I'll have you think that line!"

The lady was ignored and the lord of the place laughed once more. "Children, the two of you are so different that I find it amusing."

Before another word could be spoken, a footman entered.

"My lord, there is an urgent message from the King of Daedalus."

Lord Ganesha instantly felt something at herald and he looked at the young ones and had ordered them to leave.

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

"Tomi, what do you think is it all about?"

She looked at Lady Yukari and shrugged. "I have not the slightest of ideas."

"Don't shrug like that! You should shrug with more grace," reproached the lady with irritation in her voice.

"I don't need to act very gracefully lady-like. I am a commander of an army. You can't expect me to shrug like you and radiate an intimidating air now, can you?"

"But you're too pre–"

"Let that word or any other word that agrees with it pass not from your lips. It is quite disconcerting."

With a heavier stamp in her steps, the lady declared, "I'm having you married off."

Amused at the predictable reaction, she decided to push a little further. "I am having a haircut."

"What!" exploded the fiery lady. "But it doesn't suit you at all. I can remember when you came here and barely have a hair on your head. You looked so dreadful! No haircuts."

She stifled the smirk that threatened to form at the caringly meddling ways of her lady, her almost sister, who was rambling about what would look better for her.

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

It was in the middle of the night but she couldn't sleep. Images of a bloodied battlefield flooded her mind and made her remember a painful past that tore her inside. She had long stopped pacing her big room and had decided to go to the stables and go for a ride, hopping that the serenity of the surroundings would calm her. When she arrived there however, she was surprised to see the familiar figure of Lord Ganesha, her father figure for the past five years.

"My lord," she said as she watched him mount a stallion.

"I knew you'd come, child. And I had waited. Come, let's have a ride."

She nodded and mounted another stallion. They rode silently for many minutes until Lord Ganesha dismounted and stood by a pond. She followed him and stood by his side.

He looked upon her reflection in the tranquil waters and felt the tenderness he felt for his daughter. "Do you know that I had always looked upon you as my own child?"

Without a little hesitance, she answered, "Yes, my lord."

He smiled kindly, his mind retracing some fond memories that would never be lost to him. "You've been brought to me by the fates when you were but ten."

"I was dead and you gave me this life."

A soft chuckle and he answered back. "Your eyes asked me to, as your meek and scared voice did."

She shook her head slightly, flexing her knees and touching the surface of the water, simple fascination, much like a child's, engulfing her as the ripples formed from under her fingertips. "I was ready to die," she begun. "But you offered me a chance and I had asked then."

"And it did you good to live once more. Look at what you are now. You are better than any swordsman in Daedalus."

Smiling softly, she looked up at him, noticing that his kind eyes were on the water, perhaps on the ripples. "With the exception of you, my lord. I could never hope to be better than my mentor."

He turned to her and regarded her for a moment before speaking. "There is so much room for improvement, child, so much especially in you. A great swordsman always has a reason for being what they are."

"I have mine. And it is to protect those I love."

Searching eyes looked at her, seemingly troubled at her response. "If you have no one left to protect, what would your reason be then?"

She looked away from him and back at her reflection on the pond, distorted by the ripples that came about as she again touched the glassy surface. "I don't know, my lord."

"Then you are as lost as you are when the fates brought you to me."

"My lord," she replied as she straightened up but kept her eyes on the wrinkles on the otherwise still waters. "For five years," she paused for a moment. "My reason for living was to serve those I love, my last family. It had been my credo. I cannot immediately come up with something as solid as a reason for living. If," she trailed off and sighed with pain. "If my creed is taken from me, I have nothing else to live for but to avenge those I was not able to protect so long ago."

"You should know, child," he said with a slight note of disappointment in his voice. "That there is more to life than protecting and seeking revenge. If you live not for others, then you must live for yourself."

The silence that followed then grew too very thick that one could cut it with his own sword. But the stillness that shrouded them bothered not a great man such as Balgus Ganesha, for the father in him knew that this little girl he loved much like his own was only reflecting on his words. He knew he could not sway her thoughts with a few words alone, in such a short time that a few days can give; yet in his innermost being he was content. As long as she took his words and tried to see from his perspective before deciding on her stand, he would be at peace. She was, after all, a bright young lady with a passionate heart, who knew how to decide for her own.

"How," she begun, breaking the silence that had stretched on for many minutes. "Can one live for himself when he is alone? Didn't you teach me and Lady Yukari that no man is an island? That to exist is to co-exist?"

He smiled slightly, placing a heavy hand on her shoulder as he spoke. "I did. However, one must live first before he can find his essence. If by chance you are left nothing but yourself, you will die not if you give yourself the chance to find another purpose for you existence. How will you co-exist if you do not exist for yourself?"

When she did not answer, another silence ensued for some time.

"I can see that you live each day as it comes," he continued. "But if you do not think of the future every now and then, how will you anticipate what future possibilities there could be? I had watched you grow up with Yukari and I can see that you live for others alone. I want you to understand that your life is as precious as those you live for." A slight squeeze on her shoulder and she looked up at him. "If someday you shall find that you are left alone, you will know that your life ends not when others' lives do so."

She was silent, merely looking up at him with a silent plea of both fear and defeat in her eyes that she only showed to him and Yukari. "There is a war, isn't there? And you're making sure we'll be alright."

The great swordsman smiled. "Your perception amazes me. Yes, there is a war. Zaibach has grown powerful enough that it has started to conquer other countries. Unfortunately, Daedalus is one of the countries that it seeks to destroy."

"I will fight in your name," she declared with fervor.

"No," he denied with a shake of his head. "I have sent word to the King that I will go without you. Commander of my army as you are, you still are but too young to waste your life in a battlefield. I am not saying I do not trust your survival's instincts but you are," he said with a soft smile. "Precious to me as my daughter is. Tomorrow at dawn, I shall leave and join the war with half the army. And by then, I want you to think of what we have talked of tonight."

Her verdant eyes shone with defiance under the pale light of the moon. "I will fight by your side."

"I will be alright if that is what you are worried about." He added a chuckle to put her at ease. "I may be growing old, but I still am capable of fending for myself. Now go and sleep."

She never disobeyed him but at that moment she hesitated. "Does Lady Yukari know?"

"Yes. I have had a word with her before she went to bed. Now go back. I shall linger for a while."

Gazing at her mentor and father-figure for a while, she finally conceded, mounting her horse a few feet away. "Good night," said she and at last, rode off back to the mansion.

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

Many months later

Loud clattering of swords greeted Lady Yukari as she approached nearer the training grounds. When she finally reached her destination, she searched for her honey-brown haired 'sibling'.

"My lady," the soldiers immediately acknowledge with a bow.

The said honey-brown haired 'sibling' shook her head and approached, sheathing her sword while doing so. "What brings you here?"

"There is a message for you. It had the royal seal of Daedalus," said Lady Yukari as she handed the folded paper, sealed by a red candle wax with the King's royal seal.

"I see," she murmured and opened the letter, reading it, all the while draining away emotions from her countenance as she progressed on. At last finishing with the task at hand, she gave a deft twist of her wrist to close the letter, taking care to remain impassive as she did so.

"What is it about?" The eagerness in the lady's voice was not to be mistaken as a good sign, for eager as it was its enthusiasm seemed obligatory.

"The King wishes to see me," replied the green-eyed commander as she tucked the letter away in her armor.

Hesitating for a moment only, the lady voiced her thoughts. "It's about father, isn't it?"

She met her 'sibling's' eyes with steadiness. "The King wants me to join the war."

"I don't think that is all, Tomi," the lady rejoined with defiance prominent of a Ganesha. "Just tell me."

Green eyes looked distant for a moment before she looked at her 'sibling'. "Lord Ganesha is injured," she said, fighting off any emotion that may show in her voice. "And so the King wants me to go and take his place in being one of the commanding officers."

Lady Yukari shook her head. "Father told me he would not want you to come."

"He can't deny the King's orders," she countered in an even voice.

But the other would not back down. With conviction emitting from her every pore, the Lady Yukari raised her chin stubbornly. "You're only using that reason to go but in truth the only reason you want to go is not because of the King."

The soldiers looked uncomfortable at the apparent argument that would, without a doubt, follow. It was a known fact amongst them that both Lord Ganesha's children would not back down, would not tolerate a contradiction to what they believe in. But in those times that there had been chances for such disagreement, none of them had been based on situations such as this. They had all been things such as love not on duty of a family member to obey the wish of her father, nor of a duty of another family member to keep her father safe even against his wishes.

"I want Lord Ganesha alive," stated the commander firmly, looking sharply at the nearby soldiers and nodding for them to leave.

They complied with carefully hidden relief, not wanting to witness something personal between the persons they serve.

Lady Yukari waited for them to move away before launching on her contention. "As I do. But he wouldn't want you dead and so do I. You are a Ganesha now, Tomi, even if the blood that flows in you is that of the Kanzaki blood line. You are family and we don't let family members die."

She fixed Yukari a firm look. "That's why I must go," she said, still devoid of any emotion. "He can't and won't last long if I do not replace him."

The lady kept quiet for a while, thinking of the proper words that would get the other to give in. At last, she spoke. "Father doesn't want you to go to the war. I want him alive but I don't want to go against him. You've been both a son and daughter to him and I know that he would rather lose his life than have his children dead."

"I will not die," Tomi responded, irritation beginning to seep in her otherwise emotionless voice.

"How can you be so sure, Tomi?" countered the lady.

With impatience, she rejoined. "I just know."

"Then I'm sure you also know that father is never coming back."

Green eyes glinted with the silent anger that she could not hold back any longer. "How can you say that?"

Lady Yukari looked at her and for the first time since the talk started, smiled albeit sadly. "Instincts. I didn't want him to go but I knew I had to. Sometimes, you just feel that something will happen. When he talked to me the night before he left, he sounded like he was saying goodbye."

"You're reading too much and you're sensationalizing this," she scoffed, her anger getting the better of her.

"You know it, too, I'm sure. But you can't accept it."

Tomi clenched her hands tightly, desperately trying to put a leash on her mounting anger. But alas, commander of an army she may be, she was still a person; thus, could still lose to strong emotions that threatened to drown her. "How can you just accept it like that!" She snapped, her usually serene green eyes darkening as if in a storm. "He's your father! He's been my father! I care not if he sounded like he's saying goodbye because I'm not letting him die!"

"Hitomi–"

"It's Tomi," she nearly snarled in anger. "Hitomi died a long time ago, with the village that burned to the ground."

She spun around and left Lady Yukari standing there and looking at her retreating figure.

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

Merely two days later, Hitomi who had been known as Tomi for the past five years, was almost prepared to go; almost for she had yet to settle the argument between her and Yukari.

"Lady Yukari."

The said lady looked up from the book she was reading and stared at the eyes that reminded her of what she always loved most in her surroundings. "I know, Tomi."

Hitomi, with the soft emotions she reserved for her family alone, smiled and sat at the foot of Yukari's chair, on the plush bear skin that covered the cold stone floor. "I still do need to apologize. I'm sorry for the way I acted but you do know I will not be sorry for what I believe in. I cannot accept something until it happened already. There's always a chance, isn't there? That is what is living is all about."

"True," agreed the young lady. "So then I must, in turn, apologize for the way I acted."

The smile on her face widened. "Apology accepted."

"Good. Father always told us that we shouldn't keep grudges in our family. And as for your apology, I accept it as you do mine."

She did not want another serious argument and so, with a little hesitance she never showed in other people's presence, she asked. "Then you will let me go and bring him back?"

Lady Yukari's eyes turned sad. "I had a dream," she begun softly. "Do you want to know? You might tell me that I'm sensationalizing again."

Even when a sense of foreboding was upon her, she gave a nod for Yukari to continue.

"Tomi, you came to me and said goodbye."

"But I'm not saying goodbye now," interrupted the commander, now beginning to feel remorse wash over her at the direction the talk was clearly heading at.

"You are. I just know it. And in my dream, you were crying. Do you want to know why?" Not waiting for a reply, the lady continued. "Because you saw father die."

Hitomi's eyes widened and the initial shock of what her 'sibling' had said rendered her speechless for a time enough for Yukari to continue her appalling words.

"In my dream, you wanted to come back. But you couldn't. And soon your eyes darkened. You called for me but I couldn't come to you. I don't know why it is so but I couldn't come no matter how hard I tried. Do you want to know what shamanic books say about that?"

"No," she replied, finally recovering and looking away as if to shield the sudden fear in her emerald orbs. "Just tell me another dream."

"You saw me die," again begun the lady, this time, her voice clearly saying she did not want any interruption to be made. "You wanted to go away but you couldn't and your eyes darkened. You called for father but he couldn't come to you. It's just the same as the other dream only father and I were switched places. Do you want to know what they mean?"

Resisting the impulse to stand up and leave, she answered "No. I want to know none of anything about that."

The lady kept quiet for a while as if thinking of what to say next, sensing the raging emotions in her companion. "I'm not saying these things so you would not go or you would go. Perhaps you are right. I am reading too much and that I'm sensationalizing things. You may go or you may stay. I will always support you. Father said that is what a real family should do; support each other."

Hitomi looked back and stared at her 'sister's' eyes, sure that her fears were clearly written on her face, before laying her head on Lady Yukari's lap in her attempt to finally hide the vulnerability she had not felt since she stepped foot in the Ganeshas' territory five long years ago. "I don't want to leave you but I have to bring him back for both of us."

"I understand," said Lady Yukari gently, her free hand stroking Hitomi's short hair. "Would you promise me something?"

She would've bitten her lip if she was more of a girl. "Anything."

In a clear voice, the lady said her request. "Live not only for others but for yourself."

"Don't talk like that," she chastised, the vulnerability in her increasing more, as the knots growing in her stomach twisted.

"Just promise me."

"Alright," said she after a long moment had gone. "I promise."

Lady Yukari smiled gently. "You will always be my sister, right… Hitomi?"

Closing her eyes, she whispered. "Right… Yukari."

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

Lady Yukari watched as her sister for five years left. She smiled sadly, certain that it was the last time she would see her dearest Hitomi, much like her loving father. For she knew, dreams as they were, they were omens.

But she had to let Hitomi go. Family members should support each other and a real family should not let family members die.

"The books say it is Death, my Hitomi." Tears sprung to her eyes then, tears that her stubborn Ganesha side would not let surface when Hitomi had been there. "Goodbye, sister." And slowly, surely, the tears fell.

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**---o-o-o---**

The best thing you can give to another is love…

But sometimes… the dividing line of what is love and what is hate is blurred by something that strikes as quick as lighting…

Destruction…

Death…

**---"For Love is Selflessness"---**

**---o-o-o---  
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She stared hard at the map in front of her as the other commanding officers argued about the strategies.

It has been months since she came to the war. The time passed too quickly for her and for those who had died in the battle. But it also dragged on slowly for her and for those who were suffering because of the war.

It was strange. But every night, she would dream of the destruction happening, of the lives being ended. There was too much of the real cruelty around and it reminded her of how early she had begun to see reality. But then, she was not the only fifteen-year-old soldier in the battle. No, there were many more, most of which had been in the front line even before she had arrived. She would've done something about it, but she knew that in her waking moments, she did not have time to think of those who died in the war.

But then, at night, or at times when she closed her eyes to rest, she would see in her mind's eye those dead soldiers both from their side and the enemy's. They haunted her, fighting to frighten the little girl in her that died long ago. There are times, in the months that passed, that bitter memories of her painful childhood experiences from the war would come back, cutting her, hurting her, killing her. It had been down in slow succession as if to prolong her torture, as vengeance for every life she took away in the battlefield.

"That is suicide!"

She was jolted out of her musings by the exclamation of one general and the loud thud that his fists caused as they hit the table. Looking around, she saw the grim expressions of the officers. It gave her a sense of depressing familiarity, as if they had been through this situation before. Perhaps they had been or perhaps she was merely imagining things out of fatigue. After all, it had been months of hard survival, months of living by the rule 'kill or be killed'.

"I need some air," she said, quickly exiting the tent as if to run away from the reflection she was previously engaged in.

Outside smelled of lives' end, it had since even before she came, and yet it still gave her the same feeling of dread. Each moment in the battlefield, countless bodies had fallen. How many lives had already been lost? How much more lives would be lost before everything was over?

"You must see now why I did not want you to come."

"My lord," she said, as she walked towards her approaching father figure.

"It surprises me that you flinch not in battle."

Ignoring the shiver that ran down her spine, she countered with a question. "Why would I flinch?"

"You are but a child," he answered, looking at her thoughtfully as if looking into her soul. "There is much carnage in the battlefield."

She looked away; again ignore the shiver in her spine. "This war did not give me my first kill."

He nodded, remembering what she must have remembered at that moment. They fell silent then, merely looking at the blackness of the heavens at night.

It was a nearly starless night, the heavens above seemingly uninterested or rather disgusted at the gaeans' barbaric actions over the months that passed. Even the wind had not come, perhaps sickened by the mere idea of carrying the scent of death as it moved.

"You should return to Yukari. You do not need to be in this battle and make sure all the time that I would be alright."

Hitomi looked away from the sky and turned to look at Lord Ganesha. "I would go if you would."

"Child," he said softly, his heart warming at the young girl beside him. "If it is my time, then I can do nothing about that. I must face it bravely like a true warrior. My heart is proud at your selflessness but I do not want to risk you. In your age, you still have so many years ahead of you; years that could be spent anywhere but here."

She shook her head. "But if I leave you alone here, I would repeat what I hated the most from my past. I wasn't able to protect those I loved." Her green eyes, its color barely decipherable in the dimness that surrounded them, flickered with unnamed emotions. "I don't know if fighting in the war without having any misgivings in taking another's life is right or wrong. But I do know I have to fight for what I believe in. And I believe that a true family would not let family members die."

Lord Ganesha smiled although he felt a deep sadness. "You keep your promise much."

With a sigh, she affirmed what her foster father had known for a long time. "I live for others."

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

The heat of the battle was intense, even more intense than the previous months of battles. He knew it was time. He could feel himself losing little by little.

Blood was everywhere, on his opponents, on him. But from the corner of his eyes, he saw her, the best student he ever had fighting for what she believed in. Even as she was ending other people's lives, he knew he had not made a mistake when he first decided to bring her with him and make her one of the family.

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

_He was not one who approved of slave trade. Booties of wars are, most often than not, innocent people who were caught in the middle. But it was like this everywhere, especially in the winning countries. As it was, Egzardia was Daedalus' ally. However, his reason for being in Egzardia was to attend Egzardia's grand celebration in which he was required to come as he was a member of nobility in Daedalus._

_And now that the celebration is over, it was time to go. But seeing the booties of the war being sold was too much. Perhaps if he brought one of the children to his country as his daughter's handmaiden, he would give a better life to even one innocent person._

_As a result of the thought, he bought the green-eyed girl who was silent and looked as if she was trapped in her own world. There had been many like her but when one of the slave traders jerked her face up, he saw the most wonderfully green eyes he had even gazed upon. But they were empty as if someone had chased away the child's soul._

_He knew it was so because of the war and a surge of guilt came upon him. Without a doubt, he knew his daughter's heart would sink if she saw this. But then, perhaps if he brought her along, that emptiness would fade away and the green eyes that reminded him of verdant fields before they were bathed in blood, would truly stand out and make his daughter, who had always loved grassy fields, happy._

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

His sword pierced through an enemy's body. He spun back and blocked another soldier's sword.

The battle was lasting longer than before and it was draining him. The months that passed, sleep, food, and water, had been a hard commodity; and the lack of the three had been taking they're toll on all warriors, not exempting a warrior even such as he was.

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

_The travel back to Daedalus was long and went through dangerous roads at some points. The last dangerous road was near and when they finally were traveling at that part, bad luck struck._

_Bandits, at least seven had attacked them and there were only four of them including the girl. He had sent his men ahead of him by days and at that moment, it seemed like a bad move._

_All the fighting was fierce and the child was pushed to the side. She stared at the violence in front of her, green eyes widening as each second passed. The eyes filled up with tears of fear and soon of hatred _– _ of deep-rooted hatred._

_A fallen sword of a dead man was picked up by small hands, and in the next instant that followed, the little girl had stabbed to death some of the bandits who were busy fighting the other three men._

_When the fighting had ended, he had looked at the girl, standing there, eyes on the ground. He had approached her and she dropped the sword, tears spilling from her scared emeralds._

_"I'm sorry," she said in a shaky voice. "I'm ready to die now."_

_He raised her tear-streaked face and looked at her, his own fatherly instincts beating on him almost painfully._

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

Three soldiers were on to him. As he fought them, another one entered the fighting.

It was Hitomi.

Her stance and attacks were smooth, almost like a dance, but he knew that she had so much more to improve for. She was young and had many more years of improvement ahead of her, for she had so much more advantages than any he was able to teach.

She was faster and more agile. She was a quick-learner. And she, above all, was ready to accept what was given to her, whether it was a punishment or a chance.

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

_"Ready to die?" He asked softly, much like he would if his daughter was the child before him._

_"My p-punish-ment… for ki-kil-ling," stammered the little girl of infinitely green eyes. She looked younger than his daughter with her much thinner, more fragile form._

_His fondness for children made his already soft heart melt for this little girl. "How old are you?"_

_She gave him a nervous look. "Ten, sir."_

_He was even more partial to her then, she being the same age as his daughter even when she looked so much younger. "If I give you a new life, would you take it?"_

_Her green eyes widened slightly. "But I-I have no-wh-where to go, sir. I-I h-have no one left."_

_He smiled kindly, stooping down and taking the little girl in his arms. "You have now."_

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

He had always believed that what you plant will be what you reap. That was the reason why he had taught Yukari never to judge others by the rank. For him, love begets love and it could be shown in many ways.

He had a reason for being in the war, he, having both needed and wanted to protect his family, knowing with a fondness that his family wanted to protect him in turn. He was sure that the reason Hitomi had not come for many months after he went away was because Yukari had tried to prevent Hitomi from coming. Yukari knew that he would die inside if his only family, his children, would die.

But he also knew that when Yukari's protection came from protecting his wishes, Hitomi's protection was from her presence.

Both his children had shown their love…

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

_Yukari looked at the child in front of her, a child who looked too fragile to be of the same age as her. "Is she a girl, father?"_

_He smiled. "Yes."_

_"Why does she have no hair?" The girl with long, dark brown hair asked out of curiosity, circling the thin, hairless little creature that tugged at her soft heart._

_"Well, most slaves are shaved before they are sold."_

_The little lady wrinkled her nose slightly and stopped in front of the little girl. She bent slightly and peered at the face of the new girl who was looking at the ground. Then the lady smiled and looked at her father. "She has green eyes! Can she be my playmate?"_

_"Of course."_

_But then, little Yukari bit her lower lip, for it would not stop its trembling. She truly did pity the little girl. It was surely atrocious for the green-eyed one if she had been enslaved at such a tender age._

_"What is it, Yukari?" He asked, although inside, he fondly knew what she must have been thinking of._

_"Can she be my sister?" She looked up at him with pleading brown eyes. "I always wanted you to bring one home. And besides," she paused, looking back at the little girl. "I do not think a younger girl like her would be suited to be my handmaiden. And even if she was, I… I do not think it is right to… to abuse her like this. Father, I always despised the war for doing this to innocent people. And if I were to make a handmaiden out of one child victim, I would be far wicked than those who oppress people for glory."_

_He could not but help smiling once more at his daughter, whose heart was truly worth more than all the treasures he had as a royal blood. "If you want her to be so, she will be a Ganesha just like you and me."_

_"Oh father, that is wonderful! Now I have someone aside from you!" exclaimed little Yukari as she went to reward her father with a warm hug that her little arms could afford to give such a huge bulk of a man as her father was._

_"But I will train her to be the best student I could have."_

_She drew back, her nose wrinkling once more. "But father," she she in an appalled tone. "She's a girl! She should wear pretty dresses."_

_He kneeled in front of his daughter, tucking a stray strand of dark hair behind a small ear. "I had asked her for what she wanted me to give to her as a new life before we arrived, and," he said slowly, "She told me she wanted to be my student."_

_"But father_–_" She begun to argue, trying to wheedle her father into her way of thinking._

_"I will protect you."_

_Both father and daughter turned to the little girl because of what she had uttered for the first time since their arrival._

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

More soldiers were still coming and fighting. Many of their comrades had already fallen. Zaibach had much reinforcement whilst they have been seemingly forgotten by their Egzardian ally.

"We must retreat!" One of the officers shouted.

"Child, let's go."

"Yes, my lord."

As they retreated, they kept fending off the attacks. And he could see that Hitomi was trying very hard to take on most of the soldiers coming in their direction.

His other daughter was trying so hard to follow what he had always told them.

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

_"Tomi?"__ Yukari asked, her slight brows meeting as she posed her question._

_"Yes. So people would think I'm a boy."_

_"Why a boy?"_

_"Because girls are always looked down upon when it comes to swords," the green-eyed girl said._

_"Oh."_

_The new girl smiled. "But I will protect you."_

_Yukari smiled widely, embracing her adopted sister. "Father always told me that we shouldn't let family members die. Does that mean you accept being my sister now?"_

_"Oh, Lady Yukari, I am nothing but a slave girl."_

_Yukari frowned and pouted. "Not to me. Not to father."_

_Lord Ganesha nodded and smiled at what he heard his daughter say to the new girl._

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

Yes, she was trying so hard. But it didn't surprise him.

That was one of her advantages…

She was always working too hard.

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

_"You're working too hard. You should rest," Yukari reproached, her delicate hands on her hips, attempting to look intimidating._

_But Hitomi was not to be swayed as she just flashed a happy grin. "If I want to be the best, I should work hard."_

_"But Tomi," Yukari wheedled. "It's almost supper and it's dark."_

_"Then have the footmen escort you home," argued the other girl, refusing to relinquish her hold on the sword she held._

_"But I want to go home with you," countered Yukari stubbornly, her voice taking the tone that showed she was about to begin a temper tantrum._

_Hitomi sighed and nodded hesitantly. "Alright. But I'll practice on the way."_

_"That would be enough, child," he interrupted and received a big smile from his daughter._

_"See? Even father thinks it's enough."_

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

He had not made a mistake when he first decided to bring her with him and make her one of the family. And as he saw her dedication to fight for what she believed in, for what she loved, he knew furthermore that he had also not committed a mistake when he decided to make her the commander of his army.

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

_"Commander?" asked the green-eyed girl in an incredulous tone._

_"Yes. You're fit for that," he said as he gave her a sword._

_She looked at it and immediately one word struck her mind; it was beautiful._

_The tip of the sword was made of gold and just inches away from the tip was a strange blue crystal with little white clouds in it. Its blade was long and was remarkable, almost glowing like the fluorescent silver of the moon. Then, inches just before the hilt, was the same blue and white crystal. It was set in a golden blade that stretched on towards the handle. But between the crystal and the handle was the golden metal branching out like wings of a phoenix. The handle was longer than most swords she had seen. She could use both her hands side by side on the handle and still have a space for one more hand. And at the tip of it was a third and smallest blue and white crystal._

_She had never seen anything like the sword before her._

_"That sword has been passed on from my ancestors. It was said that those crystals came from one single crystal that had been called the Mystic Moon. Child, those three are the only ones remaining."_

_"And they are mine?" She asked, her voice still infused with incredulity._

_He smiled. "Yes, child."_

_It took her a while to finally regain her ability to speak at such a gesture, such a gift, such an honor. "This beautiful sword must have a name. Is it called the Mystic Moon, too?"_

_He nodded. "It is."_

_At this, Hitomi smiled proudly. "And it's mine," she whispered, clutching at the handle as if she was never going to let go. "I have you to thank, my lord; you and Lady Yukari."_

_"And yourself as well," he added, smiling kindly._

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

Arrows were soon raining upon the battlefield. Many were injured and many died. Hitomi was hit by an arrow on her lower leg and she could hardly run as the arrow pierced through her. She tried harder but the pain kept slowing her down.

Lord Ganesha slowed down and tried to help her.

"My lord, I beg of you to go," she pleaded, her eyes frantic at the thought of him slowing down to help her. "I will catch up."

"We don't let family members die."

And there was nothing she could do. After many minutes, Hitomi finally fell to the ground. She could not stand up and Lord Ganesha carried her, leaving himself vulnerable to sword and arrow attacks. When they had reached their retreat fortress, she was set down. It was then she noticed the arrows at Lord Ganesha's back.

"Help Lord Ganesha!" She yelled with fear and panic, her eyes dead-frightened at the insistent thought of death coming.

The healers fussed over both of them but she angrily pushed them away from her, commanding them, her voice harsh from a mixture of anger for herself and fear for her foster father. "Leave me! Help him!"

Notwithstanding what was happening, she limped away, the sting of the arrow on her lower leg completely unable to overcome the sting in her heart.

Many hours later, she was already patched up, the arrow at her lower leg having been pulled out and the wound treated as well as her other injuries. She struggled to go to Lord Ganesha and had finally reached where he was in the fortress to find him very weak.

aoaoaoaoa

"Child, come."

She ignored the pain that her body was experiencing and came to him. "My lord."

"No, child," he interrupted. "In this last moment, call me father. I had always looked upon you as I had Yukari."

The tears stinging her eyes before came back with a vengeance. Before any second more could pass, they were already flowing down her cheeks in twin rivulets.

Lord Balgus Ganesha smiled. "So you know that I will not last long."

She shook her head, her voice catching in her painfully dry throat. "That's not true," she said, choking with her tears. "You'll live through this. We will go back home together."

He looked upon her for a long time, the tears flowing from the verdant eyes both he and Yukari loved so much affecting him. "Stubborn as always, my dear, dear Hitomi."

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

_"We're growing old," Yukari complained._

_Hitomi laughed. "But of course. We can't stay young forever."_

_"But I want to be a child forever," the other continued to whine._

_"Why?"_

_She looked impatiently at Hitomi. "So that I wouldn't have to leave."_

_"Leave?"_

_"Yes," the Lady Yukari said, irately clutching the brush in her delicate hand. "Leave to marry so that two places may live more harmoniously."_

_Hitomi thought for a moment. "Then you can marry and stay here. Or if not, I will visit you."_

_"But it's still not the same. Right, father?"_

_He offered a smile. "Perhaps yes, perhaps no, my dear. But we'll still be a family."_

_Green eyes sparkled with agreement. "Lord Ganesha is right. Even when we're far, we'll still be a family. See? Even if I'm not really your sister, we're still a family."_

_"You're right!" exclaimed Yukari, now smiling. "No matter what happens, we'll be a family! Let's make a promise, come on. Father, do you promise?"_

_"Yes, my dear," he agreed. "I promise that we'll always be a family no matter what happens."_

_"Wonderful! Now Tomi, it's your turn."_

_"I promise that we'll always be a family no matter what happens," complied Hitomi with all the sincerity in her._

_"Now, it's my turn. I promise that we'll always be a family no matter what happens. Now that we've made our promise, we should always remember what a true family does. They love one another and lots and lots of other good things like support, protection and those things."_

_Hitomi nodded and he just smiled. Yukari beamed at back them before turning back to the girl beside her and giving the emerald-eyed Hitomi an affectionate hug._

**-.-.-AAO-.-.-**

They had spent the time talking until at last, the light of Lord Balgus Ganesha's life was extinguished. She had cried silently and kept on remembering that his death was because he remembered what a true family does to each of its member. She wanted to blame herself but he had made her promise him to not do so.

By the end of that eventful day, he was buried and she was forced to leave his grave when the Zaibach forces attacked once more. Soon enough, they were forced to retreat and retreat as each day passed. It was blatant that they were losing the war. Zaibach had become too powerful.

Her dreams from before each came true and when a day came that she dreamed of seeing Daedalus being attacked, she had tried to go back to Daedalus to rescue Yukari. But the fates were against her as she was captured in one of the battles. Thrown in a fortress' dungeon along with others who survived, she wondered what had gone wrong, wondered why Egzardia had not sent any reinforcements as planned.

As each day passed, they grew little and little, each of her companions losing their lives to brutal execution.

She had wondered what had befallen Daedalus and Yukari for that matter. Her answer came to her after many weeks of captivity and it was a cold stab to her heart when she heard from the conversations of the guarding soldiers that Daedalus was burned to the ground and that the upper class had either been executed or enslaved.

Her hatred grew more and it awakened a long buried hatred from a past before she became one of the Ganeshas.

'If I cannot take the leaders down, then I'll bring some of the instruments with me to my death,' she vowed the day before she was taken away from the dungeons to be executed.

---tbc---


	2. A GaneshanZaibachian Stand

**Author's Note: **Okay, I'm finally through with the chapters posted before. **Thanks to those who reviewed the slightly altered part 1 and to those of the Gaean Illusion family. **After this, there'll be new chapters. Lol. Finally. **Thanks again to everyone.**

**Dedication: To everyone who had reviewed and stuck by me. I am entirely grateful.  
**

**Note:**

"Against All Odds" – dialogue

'Against All Odds' – thoughts

_Against All Odds _- flashback

**Summary: **She's determined to settle scores and he's unconsciously seeking a way out of the life he had known since childhood. When fate brings them both together the result is something quiet far from what everyone expected.

**Standard Disclaimer Apply**

**Against All Odds**

**By Frostmourne**

**-o-**

**Part II: A GANESHAN-ZAIBACHIAN STAND**

**-o-**

**-o-o-o-**

Lives are like leaves…

They are carried by the wind of circumstances…

Even when they do not like where they would go next… they have no choice for they are only blown to whatever direction there could be…

All that is left then is to make best of whatever you are in…

For we are…

**-"Like a Leaf in the Wind"-**

**-o-o-o-**

She sat in the darkness, awaiting her death when the guards dragged her out together with some of the other prisoners. They were forced to walk through the dark passageway until they were out of the fortress in which they were kept.

The sun was barely up and yet, the air reeked of death and screams of pain filled the early morning atmosphere.

One by one, they were pushed to a high platform on which, they were tortured in different ways till they died. But she was not fazed by it and waited for her death bravely. Her mind however was forming with a plan of taking her executioners with her to the valley of the shadows.

**-AAO-**

He paced the cold floor of his massive room. Restlessness had taken over him once more.

He had awoken earlier beside the naked body of a random lady from Egzardia's court. For a while he had stared at the ceiling. Images of the last battle he had been in flashed in his mind and his thirst for violence was awakened at such an early time. He had settled for pacing his room, waiting for the time before he could once more destroy.

But pacing did not satisfy him. And so he decided to watch something entertaining…

**-AAO-**

She was roughly pushed towards the platform, the laughter of the three soldiers on the platform fueling her determination as each moment passed.

"These weaklings," sneered one of the soldiers. "They should be slaughtered like pigs."

Her anger escalated and though bound by chains were her wrists, she drew the sword of one soldier when she passed by them.

There was one thing that every fiber of her being was screaming for her to do, and that was to take as many lives as she could.

**-AAO-**

He kept his eyes on the soldier that was slaying the Zaibach soldiers, who were supposed to carry out the execution. That morning was certainly not what he had expected it to be. Flying down from the floating fortress he had been in had turned out much more interesting than ever could be.

Before him was a soldier of the enemy dancing gracefully the dance of death, his chained wrists gracefully flicking as metal clashed against metal, as metal slashed against flesh.

When the enemy soldier was subdued, it didn't matter. He had decided.

"Stop," he ordered, his voice striking fear and confusion as the soldiers recognized him.

"Lord Dilandau," they had acknowledged.

He walked towards them and looked down at the now forced-to-kneel enemy soldier that had swords pointed at his neck. The enemy was glaring at him fiercely, cold fire gleaming within the depths of turbulent green eyes.

Dilandau smiled almost insanely. The fire in those green eyes was of the same intensity that was his own, only his sputtered hot fire, all-consuming in its blaze.

"A soldier from Daedalus," he said, as he glanced briefly at the uniform. "A high ranking one. Interesting."

The enemy soldier glared even more, causing his smile to widen. "I will not work for you," spat the Daedalusian soldier venomously.

"You're mind picks up fast. Unfortunately, that doesn't allow you to oppose _me_."

In a flash, the back of his hand had struck across the face of the enemy.

"Take him to my fortress," he ordered.

The soldiers immediately proceeded to follow his command out of fear. When they had gone, he turned to the two soldiers who stood by him the entire time. "I will break him eventually," he said, his voice promising of torture and pain. "In the meantime, the two of you will have to watch him."

"Yes, Lord Dilandau."

**-AAO-**

She paced like an agitated lion inside the quarters to which she had been carried into. The floating fortress she was in reminded her of the ones looming above them when they had been captured and it was disturbing to know that she was in one of those fortresses.

It had been hours since she had been brought to the big living quarter where three beds were in. Apparently, she would be sharing a room with two enemy soldiers. She was sure it was because she was under probation.

"I'd get that bastard!"

Suddenly, the metal door slid open. Two soldiers she had seen earlier that day with the enemy commander walked inside, eyes looking at her cautiously. She met their gazes with a look that could freeze most people on their tracks. She wanted nothing more than just to slice them part per part until they were nothing more than just little pieces for carrion birds to feast from. But upon their entrance something in her clicked.

She was a strategist as well as a commander of an army. Taking on everyone in the flying fortress wasn't a good choice. But one way or another, she'd die anyway. However, she'd die bringing with her the best she could; and the best target was the red-eyed officer who had enlisted her against her choice. She'd make him regret everything.

If she killed these two soldiers, her chances at getting her target dead would be lessened. It wasn't the right choice and so, she decided to play along until she had the chance to fulfill her last mission in life.

"You're uniform," one of the soldiers said, throwing her the said uniform.

Catching the thrown uniform without even taking her eyes off the soldiers, she could sense their suspicion. And even as they left, she knew that they can feel something. Too bad, it would be too late before they can do anything about it.

**-AAO-**

"He's up to something."

"I know, Miguel. Let's just keep a close watch at him like what Lord Dilandau ordered us to do."

"It's strange," commented the soldier called Miguel as they continued to walk towards a specific place in the floating fortress. "Something's off. I could feel it especially when you threw him his uniform."

"He's a high-ranking officer from Daedalus as Lord Dilandau had said. He's trained to be as lethal as he could possibly be. It's just normal to feel that something is off because it's true. I doubt a soldier like him would change loyalties in a snap. Even if he knows what's best for him, the cold glare he gave us certainly warrants danger."

Miguel frowned. "Gatti, I swear, if Lord Dilandau doesn't kill him, we'd be in for a torturous watch for our lives."

The said Gatti narrowed his eyes slightly. "If Lord Dilandau chooses an enemy to be one of his soldiers, that enemy is something. You're right. We'd be in for a torture."

**-AAO-**

Before him, his selected soldiers' bowed figures were lined up. His eyes gleamed with interest as he stopped in front of his newest soldier who was foolish enough to remain standing.

A loud slap echoed in the enormous room they were in.

Dilandau had slapped the soldier from Daedalus harder than he had ever slapped any of his Slayers and yet, the soldier had remained standing by sheer will power. The fact both angered and heightened his interest.

The next moment, the slayers looked up at the sound of clanging metal.

The gleam in the garnet eyes of Zaibach's best soldier was unmistakable as his sword pushed against the Daedalusian soldier's newly given sword. There was a challenge of whom the victor shall remain alive and the defeated, dead.

Sword clashing against sword was the only sound filling the room for many minutes. Blow against blow, the two danced on in a spectacular sword play, each determined to emerge the conqueror.

A slice towards the neck was blocked by the green-eyed soldier, but the wicked smile gracing the lips of the platinum-haired one was full of warning. Unexpectedly, the Zaibach commander released one hand from its duty in holding the sword, using the free hand to punch the Daedalusian soldier.

Before any recovery could be made, a kick to the chest sent the honey brown-haired one skidding on the metal flooring of the fortress, his sword sliding away from his grasp. The attack was followed by many more blows he could hardly block with his arms in his fatigued state.

When the fallen soldier could hardly stand up, he was forced to look up at his enemy as the latter pulled his short honey brown hair to tilt his head roughly. Resounding slaps echoed and when he - the high-ranking Daedalusian soldier - was nearly unconscious from the beating, the red-eyed Zaibach commander suddenly stopped.

"I'll kill you," hissed the general. "Bow and you'll live."

The Daedalusian soldier struggled to voice his thoughts and somehow succeeded through his strong will. "What makes you think I would choose to live and serve you?" He hissed back in an all too male voice.

"I'll torture and kill you."

He smiled sarcastically even when it hurt his facial muscles. "I'm a soldier by my choice. I fear no torture or death."

Red eyes gleamed with an unreadable expression. Then he released his painful hold and stood up from his bent position. "You'd be perfect. Gatti! Miguel! Take him back to your quarters!"

The two immediately proceeded to do as they were told, both thinking of the nights they wouldn't be able to really sleep in the future.

**-AAO-**

Seconds ticked into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into days, and days into weeks. Still, the soldier from Daedalus was not dead. They could hardly sleep. Each movement made them rouse from light slumber and each night was spent cradling their swords near them.

For four times, the soldier from Daedalus had attempted to kill Lord Dilandau. Each attempt was closer to success and yet their lord had not ordered for the enemy's death. Their lord had remained unrelenting in his choice of keeping the enemy with them in their quarters.

It was disturbing how the soldier could almost match their lord in a sword fight. His only undoing was always in lesser stamina and his lack of capability in a fist fight. Always, he could hardly stand whenever their Lord Dilandau kicked him especially in the chest. But other than that, he was someone to be feared. Perhaps a little more practice would make him the equal of their lord, if that was ever possible.

His healing was fast. He had never been brought to the infirmary even when under heavy beating from their lord after each assassination attempt. The soldier could still stand straight the following day, his green eyes never reflecting anything else but cold fury.

Their lord never allowed anyone else to interfere during their fights. When they had attempted to help at one time, they were slapped hard enough to leave a bruise for days. It was as if their red-eyed commander was to be the only one allowed to break the strong-willed captive.

A slight stirring and both Gatti and Miguel were once again gripping the hilt of their swords tightly. But as like every night, no attack was launched against them. It was as if the enemy soldier's target was their lord alone.

Dawn came and they had to prepare for another new day.

The three of them entered the training room silently. Practice went on smoothly until once again, the green-eyed soldier from Daedalus attacked.

It was as if their red-eyed general had expected and had waited for the attack. For when their swords met, the general's eyes lit as it always had whenever he was fighting with the former commander of a Daedalusian army.

The dance once again started, both warriors moving with a deadly gracefulness of a hunter after its victim. Each clash escalated the tempo of the death dance. Before the slayers' eyes, the skills of two of the best fighters that ever lived in Gaea unfolded.

It was unsettling when the former commander of an army had managed to spill the blood of the red-eyed general as his sword slashed through the general's side. But garnet orbs gleamed with heightened interest and morbid fascination , challenging the freezing fury that emanated from the emerald eyes of the enemy.

With a renewed energy, continuous attacks came from the general. And when the former commander's sword was once again made to fly away from his grasp by a very strong strike, it was fist against fist.

Each punch and kick was evaded with grace as if the enemy had fully learned from past failures. But one mistake was made, and it was when the enemy made a run for his sword to finish the fight. A sweep on the leg was the touch that made the former commander fall under the general's form who delivered punch after punch with macabre interest.

"Lord Dilandau," interrupted a voice.

The said lord looked up, crimson eyes burning with allure for violence.

"The Duke requests for your presence in his palace," announced the messenger of the Duke.

He stood up, his eyes glinting with anger at the interruption. "Gatti! Miguel! Take him to your room!"

Gatti and Miguel both knew that the former commander was the one being referred to by their lord. And without further delay, they fell out from their line and went to do as their lord ordered.

**-AAO-**

"This better be damn well important," he hissed as he jumped out of his guymelef's cockpit.

Along so many massive hallways he passed through, followed by two of his slayers. He had been more than angry when he was interrupted only to find out that he had to fly away from the Vione, his flying fortress, to meet with the Duke of Zaibach.

"Welcome back, Dilandau," said the Duke as the platinum-haired general and his two slayers entered the specified room of the appointment.

He stood just by the doors, looking at the Duke with impatient red eyes.

**-AAO-**

Before Gatti and Miguel could reach their quarters with the enemy soldier, a group of soldiers from the Duke of Zaibach intercepted them.

"That soldier is to be executed," one had announced.

"Lord Dilandau ordered us to bring him back to our room," Miguel said with a deep frown marring his features.

"The Duke ordered the execution."

"Until we receive orders from Lord Dilandau, we will not comply," stated Gatti evenly.

"Very well."

Soon enough, they were surrounded by the soldiers of the Duke and were later on forced to a fight so as not to give the green-eyed soldier for the execution. But through sheer number, they were not successful and before they could call for any help, their ward had been taken.

Merely minutes later, the Slayers were planning on a much unexpected rescue attempt. If the soldier their lord had wanted to keep was executed, hell would break loose.

**-AAO-**

Drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness, Hitomi reflected on what had just happened. She was going to be executed soon and she had not yet killed Dilandau Albatou.

She would curse Zaibach for their viciousness again and again even after her death. She had been alright for the past weeks, true, but it did nothing to keep her hatred at bay thus she repeatedly attempted to assassinate Albatou.

If Zaibach hadn't decided to spread its territory, Daedalus would still be intact. And if that was so, the Lord Ganesha and the Lady Yukari wouldn't have been both dead. But then, even with the war, there wouldn't have been so many dead people if Egzardia sent reinforcements as was agreed upon.

Her eyes narrowed, realization dawning on her. There had been many a moment in the times that passed as a forced Zaibach soldier that she had seen Egzardian countesses in the Vione. She was sure they were so, for their features and gowns showed much of the Egzardian culture. It was near impossible for them to have been kept as prisoners, after all, would prisoners of high status be slyly, and not to mention seductively, touching the red-eyed general?

No. Of course not. Not unless they _slept_ with the said general… and it was blatant that they did. Her sharp eyes had seen some of them sporting some kiss marks on the exposed skin of their throats.

The hairs at the back of her neck stood on end and she had the telltale feeling that she was concluding rightly. Egzardia had betrayed Daedalus, leaving them off to fend the Zaibachian intruders alone. And then, Egzardia had openly expressed their chosen side, some of their royals even willingly bedding a Zaibachian general with not even a little amount of disgust.

Once again, Egzardia had taken a family from her. The Ganeshas and before them… the Kanzakis and so many more people she had grown up with.

She had made the wrong choice then. Her real enemy wasn't Zaibach. It was Egzardia. If it hadn't been so power-hungry long ago, she wouldn't have gotten to be with the Ganeshas and they would've still been alive. And so would've been her original and beloved family.

Egzardia was now enjoying their victory at always being able to go with the winning side. And she was about to be executed with the realization of a good chance wasted.

'Damn it! If I had only reflected more instead of obsessing over an assassination, then I would've gotten the chance to cause trouble between Egzardia and some officials from Zaibach! I had been given the chance to serve one high official from Zaibach and it was a good chance for everything!'

If only she had been given one more chance, she'd choose to serve Zaibach and rise into power to make Egzardia pay for everything. If only...

And she cursed again.

**-AAO-**

Crimson eyes burned with rage as the general quickened his pace towards the execution site. He had been wary of the appointment and had a suspicion of something not being right. He had not let the Duke keep him for a few more minutes before something came to him.

Trickery. He had fallen for the manipulative ways of the Duke.

Of course the Duke had heard about his latest venture in keeping an enemy in the Vione; and not just a simple enemy, but one who was meant to be a great soldier with the capabilities of assassinating him.

When he arrived, his slayers were already there, fighting the Duke's soldiers. His eyes narrowed and without any second thoughts, his sword once again claimed lives. Upon realizing his presence, the fighting finally stopped, the soldiers cowering in fear at his apparent anger.

Gatti and Miguel had been tasked to bring their ward back to the Vione as with the usual. The rest of the Slayers were ordered to go back to the Vione to train. And Dilandau, in his anger, had stalked back to the Duke's abode to demand for answers.

**-AAO-**

"He's been tortured," commented Gatti as they dropped their responsibility on the bed. "We better have him patched up before Lord Dilandau gets back. If he dies, we die."

Miguel nodded and began to help Gatti remove the unconscious soldier's armor, not expecting what they were yet to know. When they finally removed the upper covering, they found bandages wound tightly on the chest of the former commander.

"Maybe injuries from before?" inquired Miguel.

Gatti nodded and reached to cut the bandage loose, only to discover when the bandage loosened that the green-eyed soldier from Daedalus had something a man shouldn't be having.

The bandage didn't need to drop completely off. Just the cleavage that showed when it was loosened was enough for suspicion to feed upon. And the two slayers looked at each other with shock and confusion in their eyes.

"He's a girl?" They both asked at the same time.

**-o-o-o-**

Even when the night of life seems long, there is always the dawn and then the sunrise…

Patience and strong will is the key to move through life and get to that sunrise…

Thus in life, when one stumbles during his day light, he must not waste his time…

Night is merely a transition to another day…

And so it is said to those nearing the darkness…

**-"Arise in the Depths of the Night"-**

**-o-o-o-**

The massive doors opened and in entered the fuming red-eyed general, Dilandau Albatou. "Why did you order the execution!" He had asked immediately, irritation pouring off him in massive waves for everyone to see.

The Duke merely tilted his head in delight at the young man's fast pace of mind. "I don't want to hear one day that my son has been assassinated by the person he keeps so close to him."

Scarlet eyes narrowed. "He has the makings I have been looking for!"

"So I've heard. You do know that keeping enemies so close is not very advisable," the Duke said calmly as he shifted in his comfortable chair. "Do you know who you are keeping, Dilandau? That soldier is one of Daedalus' high ranking military officials. And as I have learned, he happens to be a student of Balgus Ganesha, one of the three renowned sword masters in all of Gaea."

Dilandau's temper was temporarily left forgotten. "It figures... a student of Balgus Ganesha."

The Duke frowned. "You didn't bother to know that soldier well enough. If I hadn't stepped a foot in, you would be dead soon enough!"

"I have no care for his past!" The young general immediately snarled. "He is mine to break! When I make him my best creation, the past wouldn't matter at all!"

"And what after you mold him to be the most powerful soldier you have? What then? He'd kill you. That is certain."

"We'll see about that."

Similar blood-red eyes narrowed in displeasure. "You cannot keep him, Dilandau."

"You can't order me around!" He spat angrily.

"You are my son!"

Dilandau clenched his fists. "You never treated me like one!"

He spun around and walked out of the enormous room, leaving the Duke to glare at where he once stood.

"Stubborn like your mother," the Duke said with irritation.

**-AAO-**

They both didn't know what to do, how to react with what they had just discovered. It was no wonder that the green-eyed one's weakest spot was always the chest.

A slight groan from one of the beds alerted them to a waking male. The woman sure did practice well enough to sound like a male.

They both stood by the bed, waiting for the occupant to rouse.

Green eyes stared blankly for a split second before the owner sat up, hands immediately holding onto the sheet of the bed. The cold glare Miguel and Gatti received spoke of death. "You know," she said, fully aware from the start of her very loose bandage.

The two gave a small nod all the while eyeing her warily.

"You're a girl," stated Gatti flatly.

Her dangerous aura seemed to lessen slightly and she sent them a smirk mixed both with contempt and humor. "Never seen one?"

Gatti's eyes narrowed at the sarcastic remark. "Stop being the smartass."

"Girls don't fight," interrupted Miguel, frowning at the dangerous female on the bed. "At least that's how I know them the last time I checked."

"Well check again," she replied coolly. "Straight to business–"

"We don't negotiate with assassins like you," spoke an angry Gatti, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.

She raised a brow condescendingly and in a voice full of disdain, she replied. "Your lord forced me to serve the country that destroyed mine. What do you expect me to do? Kiss the ground he walks on?" As if to spite them more, she snorted in disgust.

Both had to restrain themselves from slaying the insolent woman. Lord Dilandau wouldn't be too pleased to know that they just murdered the ex-commander from Daedalus, she be a woman or not.

"Don't worry though. His death is of no use to me now," muttered the female, not even grimacing at the obvious pain her body must have been going through the moment she moved to sit up.

Miguel eyed her closely. "What do you mean?"

"Egzardia," was her flat reply. "Egzardia will pay."

Against his will, Gatti smirked. "So, you've finally realized that Egzardia betrayed Daedalus. It took you long enough." He eyed her with triumphant mockery.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Imply insult on my intelligence once more and I shall slit your throat before you know it." Glaring with authority, she looked down at her loosely bandaged chest and smiled wryly before looking back at them, noticing that they had just averted their eyes from her chest. "Like what you see?"

Both boys glared at her but her sharp eyes perceived the almost unnoticeable new coloring their cheeks sported and she smiled knowingly, her eyes glinting with revulsion. 'Men like these are pigs!'

"What are you planning to do?" the light brown-haired one asked with caution.

One corner of her lips twitched up very slightly at the increased caution the one she just threatened seemed to have developed in the last few seconds. "Nothing to anyone in Zaibach." Their suspicious looks she ignored pointedly. "I understand the lack of trust," she said, nearly spitting the words. "But know this: whether or not Egzardia is Zaibach's ally, with every last drop of my blood, I shall make sure that Egzardia is razed to the ground. Do not even think of standing in my way when I do so, for I shall not blink an eye when I kill either of you."

The other two remained silent, letting her words sink in, weighing them at the same time.

The one with the darker shade of brown hair looked at her with slight interest. "And then?"

She scoffed as if she thought him stupid for asking such a question. "I shall willingly die if my execution is the payment. Worry not, for I keep my word. I will not attack your lord and perhaps he will be my lord for the span of time that I will join Zaibach's conquest. That is if he manages to earn my respect."

The two watched her with a mix of confusion and annoyance.

She struggled to stand up and reached for the bandage near her that the two would've probably used on her had they not been shocked by their discovery. Her loosened bandage dropped gradually.

Gatti for some reason had pushed Miguel to turn around with him. "Shouldn't you be more… tentative in uh… stripping and dressing up?" He asked in a somewhat uncertain voice.

She gave a sarcastic laugh. "I've been a commander of an army and I have trained as a man. I think I should just go out of this room and look for a dress, don't you think?"

Instead of being offended, Gatti felt slightly amused. He never had expected that their roommate was actually a girl who, he thought with minor uncertainty, he might actually learn to like. He looked at the smirking Miguel and knew instantly that his friend's inquisitive mind was turning restlessly.

"So, Tomi," Miguel, the one with a darker shade of brown hair started. "You're name is what? Therese?"

She snorted, half-amused and half-irritated. "It's Hitomi. But I've been using Tomi for so long to complete the impression that I'm a boy."

"Oh? I thought women liked being as they are to keep their hold on men."

"Women you must know, I can assume, are nothing but ill-bred ones. Seduction, I'm certain, is the one they use on people like you." Smiling wryly as she bandaged herself, she continued. "I assure you I'm not one of them. Woman as I am, I know how to use my brain and physical strength. Honestly, women are treated differently; either they are used as nothing more than a body to sleep with and perhaps something to impregnate, or they are treated like inferior creatures that need to be conniving in order to survive."

"You certainly are a woman," commented Gatti off-handedly. "You nag like one."

Swiftly cutting through the air, a knife so deadly sailed very nearly on Gatti's neck and hit the metal walling of the quarters, imbedding it self slightly but firmly. Both boys turned back and drew their swords, only to find the infernal woman finishing up with her armor.

She gave them a patronizing smirk before continuing with the task of getting herself properly suited as a soldier. "I purposely missed, mind you. But returning to the topic at hand, I am certain either of you will ask why I pretended to be a man." She stopped and ran a hand through her armor's right shoulder, dusting it. "The answer is simple; I wouldn't have led an army if I was known girl by many men except those I lead, who I might add, are respectable men that do not treat women unfairly."

"Why would you want to lead an army for?" interrupted Gatti, still slightly apprehensive at the knife that could've injured him fatally.

"I live to serve." She had finished dressing up and now made to sit on the bed, exhaustion catching up with her badly beaten body. She touched a bruised cheek slightly and then raised a brow at the staring males. "Would you rather I take back what I said about not doing anything to any Zaibachian? Or would you stop gawking at me this instant?"

Miguel slowly relaxed against his better judgment, sheathing his sword back and sitting on the same bed that the hazardous female occupied. "So you'd kill the Egzardian rulers for betraying Daedalus?"

Her harsh laughter was enough to cause the hair on both Gatti and Miguel's arms to stand. "I implied that one before, hadn't I? They would get what is coming to them. After that, I can die peacefully no matter how brutal the way to death would be for me." Her usually fury-filled green eyes turned amused for a moment. "Shall I bribe you with my body for us to keep this little gender issue a secret?"

At this, Gatti smirked. "No, thank you. I would rather have my manhood attached to myself for my plans of procreation after the war."

Miguel followed suit, his smirk even wider. "I will be blunt. We don't trust you completely, but, I'm sure we can work around it."

Hitomi became even more amused, even against her wishes. "Oh so you have no wishes of procreating in the future then?" She asked Miguel, her amusement clear in her green eyes.

"I have. But perhaps your wit would be enough for us to warm up to you."

She snorted. "I know you mean my wit that manages to always get me in your commander's painful side. Honestly, we might as well tell him that I'm a female. I'm sure he'd be very gleeful at the news; gleeful enough to tear me apart with his bare hands."

Gatti and Miguel exchanged a look before once again, raking the insolent female with undressing eyes. She noticed the scrutiny but merely raised a nonchalant brow.

"I don't really know," began Gatti. "But perhaps your sarcasm is unfounded. You may be worth something to the commander as a female that he would spare you–"

"I am not jumping into a bed with Albatou," she drawled haughtily.

Miguel smiled with true amusement, much to his and Gatti's surprise. "You'd never know. Then again, I'm sure there'd be instances where he'd not even need a bed for you. He's strong enough to hold both yours and his weight while standing."

Her eyes glinted with dangerously double-edged meaning. A part of her wanted to rip the soldier for his underlying perversion, yet another part of her was plainly amused. Smirking, she watched the confusion crowd the two boys' face at her contradictory reaction; the amused smirk and the warning glint she knew her eyes were showing off blatantly.

But maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. The confrontation had been alright and she couldn't feel anything bad about the two, except their disgustingly perverted male trait. Nevertheless, she would take this chance. If she could pull this off, Egzardia would soon be paying for selling them out to Zaibach during so many attacks.

**-AAO-**

The following day, his tortured new soldier was already in the formation, still standing and strong-willed. Yes, he found the one who could be his greatest soldier ever.

Dilandau approached him, the only standing slayer in the line. "You still wouldn't bend?"

"I don't bow down easily," the soldier said, voice full of truth.

"We'll see… we'll see."

"Respect," continued the soldier with defiance. "That's what a truly pleasing bow is founded on. It's not of fear."

Red eyes gleamed. The soldier was interesting him more and more. But of course, he never tolerated insubordination and before another second had passed, a loud slap resounded throughout the large assembly room.

**-AAO-**

Months had passed too quickly for Hitomi even as the war raged on in the background.

Luck had been with her for in the time that passed, even as her fellow soldiers trusted her not during the first few months. But soon enough, her usual exchange of witty remarks and insults with her two roommates began to bridge their differences. Trust soon began to fill in the gap, and before long, even the other slayers were beginning to trust her, seeing as how Gatti and Miguel seemed to get along with her.

And lately, she seemed to easily fit in the group as if she never was an enemy before. It could be her determination at wanting to pull this off well enough, or it could be that she really was just lucky. But it all ended just the same. She fitted like a lost piece of a puzzle. Amusement often caught up with her when she was alone to muse over the fact that the slayers most likely needed someone new to help them cope up with the obvious wreck the war subconsciously brought on to each of them.

She never feared her commander but as time wore on, she began to respect him, strange as it may seem. Despite the look in his scarlet eyes that told her he was standing at the edge of the cliff of sanity, his ways of protecting his slayers was still evident. He can slap them and punish them severely, true, but he allowed no one to treat them with disrespect; no one at all.

For someone like him who was raised in an environment of cruelty and power-play, it was a wonder he still hasn't jumped completely from the cliff he was trudging along on; and that was what had her learning to respect her commander. He was strong even if he had a morbid streak. He had held on to the little humane part on himself even when all his life he was trained to be a manipulative and cold bastard.

"Concentrate!" a commanding voice resounded before metal hit metal.

He was always being extra hard on her in training just like Lord Ganesha had been. He was always giving her extra and personal lessons. It was as if he was making her his strongest and most invincible soldier.

A diagonal slash from Dilandau made her stumble back in an attempt to evade it. Before any recovery on her part could be made, his foot had swept towards her feet. But she jumped, landed and held out her sword over her head to deflect a blow.

Their usual dance of death continued, as usual, its pace increasing instead of slowing down from stamina consumption. It was the same in the end, with her losing in the little dance.

She was breathing hard as she lay sprawled on the cold metal flooring. Dilandau's eyes gleamed with mocking glee as he withdrew his sword away from her neck.

"Am I interrupting?" inquired a cold voice suddenly, making them both look towards the door.

Dilandau sheathed his sword and reached a hand out to his fallen soldier. "Tomi, leave us."

She nodded after she stood up and bowed slightly before leaving the training room. When she had left, Dilandau immediately turned to glare at Helio Eides, one of the four generals who had taught him since he was five.

"What do you want?"

The older general smiled coldly. "Your father asked me to watch you."

Dilandau looked mockingly. "What? He finally decided that his son needed a nanny?"

"Perhaps," replied General Helio calmly as he walked towards a sword rack to inspect the weapons. "The Duke is displeased that you're getting too preoccupied with your new toy." Upon Dilandau's glare, the older general laughed. "Defensive, aren't we Dilandau? It's good that your new toy isn't a woman. That's a bigger trouble than you can fix. As we have taught you, emotions are the downfall of powerful men."

"If you are implying that I would begin to feel, I might as well kill you right now."

"Aggression. Good. I see you haven't let your toys get to you. But your new toy… you're paying too much attention to him."

"A relationship with a guy? Are you insulting me?" Dilandau growled aggressively.

"Of course not, Dilandau. I am merely pointing out that you might be wasting too much time shaping him. Remember, you might end up caring for your slayers more than necessary." Dilandau's mentor looked at him and again smiled coldly. "You cannot let yourself slip. Remember that."

The red-eyed general's hand found its way to the hilt of his sword. He hated his mentors more than he could ever hate anyone. They had taken away his chance at a normal life, thrusting him into this turbulent life full of wars and power-play. Someday, he'd make them pay.

His grip on the sword's hilt tightened.

But till that day, he'd just have to go on being what he was, a pawn for Zaibach to become the conqueror of Gaea.

**-AAO-**

"Early dismissal from extra classes?" asked Gatti with laughter in his voice as their female roommate entered the room and slumped on her bed.

"Lord Dilandau had someone."

Miguel smirked. "He should know you're a woman and maybe he wouldn't have someone else."

She threw a pillow hard at him. "Lord Dilandau isn't one for dallying. Besides, it's some old man."

Gatti frowned. "It's true then."

"What's true?" asked a puzzled Hitomi.

"General Eides is here. That was that old man," explained Miguel coldly. "Just so you'd know, you have to be extra careful around him."

"Yeah," agreed the other boy. "He'll always be out to have us executed. Apparently, he and other Zaibach officials find us a threat for some reason."

Green eyes glinted with its signature coldness. "The only officials I am planning to be a threat to are Egzardian officials. Once they make a wrong move, I'd get my chance to make them pay for selling me and Daedalus out. When that chance comes, I wouldn't tolerate anyone standing in my way."

"What if it was us?"

She fixed her gaze on Gatti. "Would you really stop me from killing them?"

"Not on my own will. But what if we have orders from Lord Dilandau?"

Her eyes hardened and became even more chilling. "Then that's when we'd meet as real enemies. I wouldn't let anyone stop me from claiming revenge." The tension in the room was thick and she stood up, walking to the door. "I'd be at the hangar."

When she had left, Gatti shook his head. "Let's hope we don't get to that point. She may be a woman, but she can dice anyone."

Miguel nodded, wondering what would really happen if they were really to fight Hitomi in a death match.

**-AAO-**

A few days later

Dilandau watched as his special soldiers moved out of the training room to wash up after an extra long, hard practice. The latest country that Zaibach was after had just surrendered and that left him much time in his hands.

He had been contemplating about his slayers for a long time and he was questioning their change of character when they thought he wasn't around.

He couldn't manipulate them to be like him and it was beginning to get on his nerves. Why can those bastard-mentors of his make him the way he was inside and outside battle when he couldn't shape his own soldiers that way?

Deciding to find some answers, he stood up and walked with his usual cat-like grace towards where his slayers would be.

"Shower up, Tomi," Guimel was heard saying. "Don't wait up for all of us to finish. I mean you don't have extra sessions with Lord Dilandau today."

"Actually, Tomi needs to clean up the room," interrupted Gatti spontaneously. "We've been having schedules and it's his turn, isn't that right Tomi?"

"Yes. And I have to finish the room up. Lord Dilandau–"

"Yeah, yeah, he still might give you extra practice. Before more time can pass, you're already the best there is," Viole cut in. "You're already damn good when you came here and with every extra sessions, you're bound to be Lord Dilandau's best warrior. Hey Gatti, aren't you threatened?"

Gatti snorted. "It doesn't matter. At least I don't get to be slapped as hard as Tomi. It's a wonder why he still has a face."

The others laughed.

"Hey, do you think Lord Dilandau would mind if I take a melef and go somewhere?"

There were some mumbles but then the curious voice of Chesta voiced out what most were mumbling about. "Tomi, where would you go?"

The room fell silent for a few seconds before Tomi voiced his answer. "To Daedalus."

The silence that followed was filled with tension so heavy that it was almost a literal heavy weight on each slayer.

"It's been long since Daedalus' downfall. I want to see what happened to the place I called home."

Someone coughed in an obvious attempt to break the tension.

"Zaibach didn't finish the attack, Egzardia did," one slayer had said.

"I've gathered as much and I intend to see what they did."

"You're not planning on attacking Egzardia, are you?" Another slayer asked. "Lord Dilandau would kill you if you do something reckless."

"I'd give Lord Dilandau no reason for an execution. I just want to see Daedalus."

"What about your family there?" Still another one asked.

"My father is dead. I've seen him die," Tomi said, voice as cold as a glacier. "And my sister, I'm not sure whether to accept if she really did die."

"I think Miguel and I need to ask some few tips from Tomi regarding room-cleaning."

There was not one protest and all was quiet. Footsteps headed to where Dilandau was standing, and he coolly stepped away into the shadows, red eyes looking at the three slayers a few feet away from him.

Gatti was frowning. "Sharing is good. But don't get us wrong. We're not forcing you to say anything. It's just that you're playing with fire if you keep everything pent up."

Miguel rolled his eyes at Gatti's dancing around the topic. "We usually talk about our past lives here. Unless you plan on shouldering everything alone, I suggest you spit some facts out."

The former Daedalusian soldier kept quiet for a while, as if gauging his choices but then, he gave a wry smile. "Very eager to dig up my past, aren't you Miguel? Well you're lucky that my mentor always told me it's good to talk once in a while, that it helps keep the pain become more tolerable. I am really tempted to just cut your chances at procreation for being demanding."

Both Miguel and Gatti smirked.

"I'm going to Daedalus," announced Tomi . "To survey what Egzardia did and I will find my sister."

"What would you do if you find her? You can't bring her here," pointed out Miguel.

"I'm going to give her a new life, away from the pains the war had caused. It may not be grand but at least she gets to live away from the fighting."

"Grand? Hey," murmured Gatti. "Did you forget to tell us that you are some royal or something?"

"Hardly. I'm just some slave given a chance to become someone great. My mentor and my lady had treated me like their own."

"So your sister is your lady?" Both slayer asked with disbelief.

"Yes. And I would find her and make those who hurt her pay dearly."

Miguel crossed his arms across his chest, frowning. "Zaibach attacked your country. You're not planning on assassinating Lord Dilandau, are you?"

Amused laughter from both Gatti and Tomi followed forth.

"What's so funny?" asked the impatient slayer.

"Lord Dilandau has given me a chance in seeking my revenge," Tomi pointed out. "I'm not about to waste it. I'll get Egzardia."

Miguel's brows furrowed. "As much as I hate Egzardia, that blasted country is an ally."

"You think so?" interrupted an amused Gatti. "They're back-stabbing fools. They were the ones who conquered so many countries with Daedalus and then they turned their back on that country to side with Zaibach. They're just our ally as long as we can be of use and they could save their stupid asses. The reason why I'm in this war is because they attacked my home and sold me as a slave!"

"When Egzardia starts revealing their true colors," began a suddenly cold Tomi. "They're good as dead."

"You can't take them all."

Tomi snorted. "Of course not, Miguel. But I'm taking most of the royals I can get my sword to slash. In the meantime, I'll have to find my sword."

"You have a sword."

"I'm referring to the sword given by my mentor. I will use that to slay his traitors and offer their downfall to him."

"You can't expect it to be still where you lost it."

"No, of course not," the green-eyed one answered with slight impatience at Miguel, who seemed to contradict her every sentence in that discussion. "Besides, I was caught outside Daedalus. But I will find it one way or another. And with it, royal Egzardian blood will flow."

"What if you don't find it?"

The cruelty that laced the voice cracked with full, brutal candor. "How does torture sound to any of you?"

Dilandau's scarlet eyes gleamed with approval as he turned stealthily away from the three slayers. He walked away without anyone noticing, a vindictive leer gracing his beautiful face. 'Yes. You will be my best slayer. As for Egzardia, you will get your chance… that pathetic two-faced country will get what it deserves. I've got a feeling it wouldn't be long before they attempt to betray Zaibach.'

**-o-o-o-**

Like a wood to a fire, anger and hatred was used…

But the fire produced was of searing cold…

Of freezing fury that slowly creeps up and sends delicious chills of fear down ones spine…

Be wary… master your emotions…

Or they will master you…

You might find yourself…

**-"Motivated by Anger and Hatred"-**

**-o-o-o-**

Fire burned everywhere.

People screamed in fear and in pain as they ran for their dear lives. Houses and any other infrastructure were destroyed. And blood… the precious burgundy wine of each living inhabitant soaked the land.

The country of Basram was under attack by Zaibach forces. Its capital was handed over for Dilandau's special troops to deal with.

From her position way above in the cockpit of her melef, Tomi Kanzaki destroyed all those who stood in her way. Their mission was clear…

Destroy everything.

But hers was a little more than that. She was to retrieve the King of Basram and bring him back to the Vione.

So many guards were in her way and soon, her melef was a little more damaged than she would've been able to manage. The damages were hindering her. She could hardly move in the speed she liked, the speed she needed.

Basram had been clever enough to know of Zaibach melefs' stealth and had devised a way to make them visible. They had used paint. An almost invisible string was all over the place and once triggered, made paint pour forth from all direction.

"Miguel! Gatti! Back me up!" She yelled through her radio.

"Coming," said the two, maneuvering their melef towards their roommate.

Her movements were slow due to her damaged melef. If she stayed where she was, she would be dead in the next moment. Not even her crima claws would help.

When her two friends reached her, she decided a best way to accomplish her mission.

"I'm going down," she muttered. "Give me thirty minutes or so and meet me at the castle's main tower."

Before her friends could argue over her plan, her melef had forced its way through the many melefs guarding the palace. In an unexpected moment, the cockpit opened and she jumped out, running for the entrance.

"Damn!" muttered Gatti as he blocked a melef from completely slicing him.

**-AAO-**

Reaching the entrance alive was harder than she thought. Basram melefs were all over the place and so were guards.

"Get him!"

"He's getting away!"

"Stop him!"

Hitomi spun around with her sword slashing through armors and skins in an instant. She looked further at where she had ran mere moments before, seeing many fallen bodies scattered in the place and more soldiers running her way. Without wasting time, she ran faster, her heavy sword getting heavier and heavier as her strength and stamina were pushed to the limits from the fighting she had engaged in.

With every twist and turn in the palace, she had lost the soldiers running after her. She smirked. The point where many who infiltrated were supposed to be clueless about was on where they were headed for. However, she was a different case.

Closing her eyes and focusing her attention in her mind's eye, she saw a very familiar swinging pendant in the dark. Unbidden for, a dull pain started to close around her, making her remember…

Screaming voices full of fear… the running and pushing… and faces she recognized as her family… as her friends…

She opened her eyes quickly and ran to a certain direction, as if to run away from an uninvited stream of stabbing memories.

**-AAO-**

"Where are they?" Dilandau's voice boomed through the hangar of the flying fortress.

The lined out slayers feared what Dilandau was going to do. They have been forced to retreat by the unexpected reinforcements sent by Chezario, a loyal ally of Basram. By Basram alone, they were outnumbered and the only advantages they had was their stealth and crima claws. But with Basram's paint idea, the crima claws were the only ones left.

"They are just some casualties," said someone in a hauntingly emotionless voice.

Dilandau's red eyes focused on the shadows. A mere second later, a very familiar man to Dilandau appeared.

"General Getin," acknowledged Dilandau in a tone that made the name seemed like a foul thing, an insult even.

The general ignored the tone and leered. "You're not planning on rescuing them, are you? In wars, there are always casualties. If you are really a strong fighter, you will not let their deaths affect you."

"Do not tell me what to do!" yelled Dilandau heatedly.

"I suppose retreating wasn't an order to you?" asked the old general arrogantly.

Scarlet eyes flared in fury and before anyone could anticipate what would happen, Dilandau already had his sword on General Getin Gus' neck.

"Do not taunt me!"

The general's leer widened. "My death wouldn't change a thing and you know that."

The cold metal of the sword pressed more on the older general's neck, drawing blood. But then the sword withdrew and it fell to the metal flooring of the Vione heavily, causing a loud clang to reverberate in the big hangar.

Dilandau did not bother to pick up the sword he dropped and merely walked away, fuming at how everything was going at that moment.

**-AAO-**

"She'd come," Gatti said in a firm voice as he leaned on to the cold stone wall of the cell he and Miguel were in.

"Why didn't they kill us?"

Gatti's lips tugged at the corner in a wistful smile. "That's my brother, blessing us from above."

Miguel snorted. "Blessing us? Maybe he's just blessing you and I happen to have tagged along so his blessing ran out and we got captured."

"It's better than dying, right? Maybe–"

"Do you still believe in that? There are no maybes in life especially in wars. What happens is what is there. You can't do anything about it."

"What about Tomi? Didn't she change her life?"

"Was she able to save her family when Daedalus was betrayed?"

Gatti sighed. "So maybe you're slightly right. But that doesn't stop me from having something like hope. She'd come for us. Whether you like it or not, the three of us are more of a family than we would have liked to admit. These months she's in our room, it wasn't so bad. And you know that."

Miguel nodded and looked up at the faint light of the moon seeping through the metal bars of their cell. "It's been so long since I've seen someone who's willing to keep her family… even in memories."

"It's not anymore. Tomi is here. Maybe she can bring back our hope that wars aren't forever."

"Don't you hear her when she talks? She could die after she gives her mentor and sister their honor back through revenge."

Gatti shook his head. "But we wouldn't let her die. We're her family now… even the other slayers… and even Lord Dilandau. We're all she has left. Do you even bother to remember what she says when she talks to us in our room?"

"Yeah… it's always about family. It makes me wonder how she can turn into a monster in battles when she seems so different whenever family is concerned."

"Anger. Hatred. That's how she does things. She turns her anger and hatred into a fuel. It's all about revenge for her. Her eyes turn so cold in battles that it scares me. Lord Dilandau was almost like that before."

Miguel glanced at Gatti. "You were among the first to be dragged into the war… was Lord Dilandau really like that?"

"Yes, in a way. But his eyes always burned with hatred and anger for his family and for his mentors. With Tomi, it's different in a way that hers froze for her family's enemies… for Egzardia."

"What difference does it make?"

With a smirk, Gatti explained. "Hitomi does not hesitate. Lord Dilandau does, well, mainly because he's thinking of torturous ways to kill his enemies. But her? Just as long as it's death for her enemies, she couldn't care less for the details."

Miguel nodded. "She said she saw her mentor die…"

"Egzardia betrayed Daedalus and her mentor wouldn't have died if–"

"It's still the same."

"No. He'd die but not because of betrayal. For really noble sword masters like Balgus Ganesha, it's one of the bad ways to die. It's almost like knowing that they have once called filthy, low-life bastards one of them."

**-AAO-**

She ducked into the nearest room. Just as her other dreams that came to her in her wakefulness, her latest dream came true. Basram had had reinforcements from Chezario.

She cursed inwardly as she spun around and surveyed the room she was in. It was a big room, dark and eerie in atmosphere. From the racks of different weapons on every side of the room, she surmised it was a training room, most likely for the male royals of Basram.

As she took a step forward, the familiar pink pendant suddenly invaded her thoughts. The only times she could see the pendant was when she had her eyes closed and she was picturing it. But now, she was sure her eyes were open.

The pendant swung forward before it disappeared.

She shook her head, trying to clear it from any uncalled-for thoughts. But something in her made her walk forward into the darkest portion of the room.

She kept walking and walking until the pendant suddenly appeared again. It was spinning, faster and faster. She clutched her head and sunk on her knees.

'Stop! Stop!' screamed her mind uselessly.

Her eyes shut tightly in their own accord. And after an unknown time, the spinning stopped and she opened her eyes. They widened almost suddenly as she noticed for the first time that she wasn't in the dark room in Basram's palace anymore.

Before her was a peaceful village where happy laughter could be heard. She remained rooted to where she was kneeling, still watching the village with wide green eyes.

"Hitomi? What are you doing? Come let's play," a small voice said somewhere at her back.

She gasped and turned her head slightly, green eyes meeting with resplendently blue eyes. Her mouth opened but her voice was gone and tears stung her marvelous green eyes until the salty liquid blurred her eyesight.

When she blinked, the tears fell and she found herself once again in the dark training room of the palace.

'A dream…'

She stood up quickly and looked back at the wall in front of her. Her hands reached out to feel its surface for something, a button perhaps. She pushed when she couldn't find anything and the wall slid backwards.

The pendant appeared amidst the darkness before her eyes and it swung forward.

Following it, she walked through the dark hall surely, not at all afraid or worried to stumble over something.

**-AAO-**

The bottle of liquor hit the wall and shattered into many pieces.

It had been merely hours since their retreat from Basram's capital, hours since he lost three of his best slayers.

"That is enough, Dilandau," sounded the commanding voice of General Helio Eides from the door of his room.

Scarlet eyes overflowing with ferocity fixed on the approaching general. "What do you want?"

"The Duke–"

"I don't give a damn! He can go kill himself! The hell I care!"

"So you'd drink yourself to death simply because you've lost three toys?" Cold laughter followed. "How weak. In wars like this, there will always be dead people and you know that. Get yourself a dozen new slayers if that would appease you."

A sharp-bladed dagger sailed through the air swiftly and passed through the general's jaw before imbedding itself on the wall.

"You cannot even throw a dagger right," commented the general as he reached out a hand to touch his wound. "Is this what all the years of training yields? If you weren't the Duke's son, I'd kill you personally."

Dilandau's crazy laughter echoed jarringly in the enormous room. "Watch your back, Helio. I'm not a little boy anymore."

General Eides merely stared at Dilandau with unworried eyes before walking out of the room. The fear-provoking laughter of the Duke's son followed him through the halls. But it was what he had expected.

"Yes… become unfeeling and be the best for Zaibach," muttered the old general with a malevolent smile upon his lips.

**-AAO-**

Her green eyes glinted from the faint light of the moon, showing through the windows high above her. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she walked stealthily towards the shadows and waited patiently.

'They would pay,' her mind kept saying. 'They would pay.'

The small hairs at the back of her neck stood up. Her eyes grew colder and in the next instant, she moved from her hidden position and lunged forward. The victim wasn't able to even cry out. She looked coldly upon the dead body before her for a moment, the distinctive snapping of the dead soldier's neck still ringing in her ears, diverting her attention from going over her plan for a split second.

From down the hallway, she could hear approaching steps and she hurriedly dragged the body inside the room she had been from. Quickly, she switched her clothing with the dead man's and stepped out of the room as if nothing had happened. Soon enough, two soldiers came her way.

"Hey," one soldier said. "The king needs more guards. There's no telling when Zaibach would attack again."

She bent her head low as if she was looking for something on the floor.

"What's wrong, soldier?" asked the other one.

"I… I… I just lost my brother," she muttered in a male voice she had perfected a long time ago.

"Boy, this is a war! Come," the first one said and pulled her away.

She continued her farce, looking as if she was in her own world and not hearing any of the soldiers' ranting about the war and its casualties. At length, they arrived in front of two massive doors.

"Go inside, boy."

"Why aren't there any guards outside?" She asked, head still bowed slightly as if still mourning. "My brother always told me that–"

"We lack people now."

"Didn't Chezario send–"

"They immediately drew away after helping us. Chezario is under attack now. Their king seemed to need more protection."

She nodded and pushed open the doors.

"We found this one in one of the hallways," the one who always talked explained to the soldiers. "We'll go find some new ones lost in the palace."

The rest nodded and let her in.

From the corner of her eyes, she observed the guards in the room and noted anything she might need in the future.

'Eleven guards,' she thought after a quick survey. She looked at their hands, rested on the hilt of their swords. 'Ready, aren't we?'

The corner of the room had another set of massive doors, where most of the guards were concentrated on and she guessed that was where the King and the other royalties were currently cowering in. She almost smirked at the thought.

The room was big. Big enough for her to fight in and live if she used her cards well enough. Looking above slightly, she saw a big metal chandelier hanging through a metal chord that passed through a metal support before flowing down. She traced the chord with her eyes and found that it was bolted to one of the walls, near a torch.

A plan began forming through her mind. The long drop and weight of the chandelier would kill the two guards under it. That would leave nine more guards, who would then be alerted of an intruder. Nine was still a bad thing though.

She could fight two to three people at a time with her hard training under Dilandau, even four people when she was well warmed-up. But nine was plainly suicide. And even if she could run to where the King was, there was no telling her if there were guards inside.

'The strongest chain is always the weakest one,' thought Hitomi. 'In this case, the strongest point aside from number would be them knowing of my presence. So what could make them not notice me when I attack?'

"The candles are almost burning out," commented one guard, looking up at the candles in the chandelier.

She smiled inwardly. 'Thanks for the idea. Now how do I get the lights to go out before they decide to get some candles?'

Her eyes scanned the area. The torches in the room only lit the sides of the big room. Before they could even realize where her exact location was, they'd be dead one by one.

The pendant swung forward, to the direction of where the chord was bolted. She closed her eyes briefly as if to ask for some strength. Casually then, she walked towards her destination as if she was just going to stand there.

**-AAO-**

"You'll both be dead and it would be a shout to Zaibach that they would never win against us!" The prince, heir to Basram's throne, stood on the other side of the cell.

"Why don't you just execute us now then?" taunted an irate Miguel. "Afraid?"

The prince glared. "I want you two to die publicly. You two will be tortured in the morning."

Gatti rolled his eyes. The prince talked much and his topic of painful execution wasn't very endearing.

"You didn't succeed now, and you never will." With that, the prince walked away with an air of sureness.

**-AAO-**

She pulled her sword away from the soldier. 'Nine,' she counted.

The darkness was her partner. Her opponents could not last longer than a few seconds against her. In a blink, the pendant in her mind appeared again and swung to her back.

She spun around and was in sync with the crashing sword. The clang was loud. She kicked her enemy and slashed through the air, sure that she would slice skin.

'Ten.'

The pendant swung to her right and she ducked, narrowly avoiding the wildly slashing sword, its wielder probably hoping to hit her. Sweeping her foot on the ground, it hit two feet and without thinking, she plunged her sword to that ground, hearing the cry of pain of a person dying painfully.

'Eleven.'

Sheathing her sword, she walked towards where the pendant was leading her to. She stopped when it stopped and she was sure that she was in front of the massive doors which led to the King.

'If I rush in, there's no turning back. Either I come out with the King, or I die,' thought Hitomi, weighing her chances.

But then, she could hear the shouting voices of the past and her anger soared. She could still picture the discussions of the leaders of Basram with the leaders of Egzardia, Chezario, and Daedalus regarding their first venture of domination, of their discussions with Egzardia and Chezario regarding their plan of leaving Daedalus to save themselves.

Her _dream _had visited her at the end of the tunnel, showing her what happened. And she had seen so many plans, laid out on the big circular table. She had seen treaties and signed blackmails and so many things that fueled her hatred.

'Two families,' she thought coldly. 'They took away two families from me.'

She closed her eyes tightly, forcing away her tears. She breathed again and again as if to dispel her fatigue away before she pushed open the doors, ready to face whatever was on the other side.

-tbc-


End file.
